Media as a cause of crime:

Question 1

what is the hypodermic syringe model?

Answer 1

hypodermic syringe model - suggests audiences are passive and directly influenced by media messages.

Media acts like a ‘’syringe’’: it ‘injects’ information, ideas and values directly into the audience’s mind.

Audiences are passive: they do not question, analyse or resist the media messages they consume.

Immediate and uniform effects: everyone exposed to the same media message will interpret it in the same way and respond similarly

Question 2

examples of media causing crime:

Answer 2

Slenderman
James Bulger
Manhunt
A03 - neither held up in court

Question 2

How does media cause crime?

Answer 2

• imitation - people will act out the violence they see in the media i.e. the college student who acted out scenes from GTA
• arousal - increased adrenaline leads to people engaging in risky behaviour - i.e. increase in traffic crimes following Fast and Furious
• densitisation - lowers people level of shock so they are no longer horrified so commit the act themselves - scream films
• school of crime - can help criminals to hone their skills and how to commit a crime and not get caught i.e. criminal minds
• deprivation - links to left realism, unobtainable lifestyles
• glamorisation - TV shows such as Sopranos provide a glamorised view of the criminal lifestyle and want to emulate it

Question 3

What is the commodification of crime?

Answer 3

A feature of late modernity is the emphasis on consumption, excitement and immediacy; crime and its thrills become commodified

Question 4

Fenwick and Hayward =

Answer 4

businesses use images or crime to sell products in youth markets. crime is marketed as a fashionable cultural symbol. they found this is also true for mainstream products i.e. car adverts feature joyriding
even the fashion industry trades on the premise of being deviant i.e. black opium

Question 5

AO3 for media as a cause of crime

Answer 5

• not everyone who consumers media commits crime
• sensitisation not desensitisation
• modern audiences are not as passive as the HSM suggests = uses and gratifications model
• cases did not hold up in court

Question 6

How does media cause a fear of crime?

Answer 6

media as a fear of being a victim of crime → spend more time at home → consume more media → generates more fear →

Schlesinger & Tumbler - over representation of certain types of crime: found a correlation between media consumption and fear of crime; particularly in being a victim of physical attacks or muggings

Stan Cohen - moral panics and folk devils = black muggings, aids, satanic child abuse, guns, islamic terrorism, knife crime

Miller and Reilly - moral panics as ideological control = moral panics are used as a form of ideological control, people become fearful of being a victim by a particular social group. it can control behavior

Question 7

McRobbie and Thornton = moral panics are an outmoded concept because:

Answer 7

• frequency - less often, no longer noteworthy
• context - would try to scapegoat a group, today there are many viewpoints and values
• reflexivity - some groups try to create their own
• difficulty - less certainty about what is bad, moral panics are harder to start
• rebound - possibility of it rebounding on them